We spoke with Environmental Mayco Member Nico de Jager on Monday. He was the first official to share the local government’s plans to make recycling mandatory, and it seems preparations are fully underway in Jozi. Here’s what de Jager confirmed:

Will the city provide a collection for recyclable rubbish?

Yes. In fact, it all seems to be very practical. He confirmed that the refuse collectors would take both household waste and recycled waste on their standard routes:

“It is correct that we will provide a pick-up route for rubbish that can be recycled. We’ll be using the normal routes and will collect recyclables as we would on a normal bin route.”

Side note: Remember to keep recycled and household rubbish in different bags.

Will there be penalties for people who don’t recycle?

Yes. Johannesburg is getting extremely serious about tackling the scourge of pollution. De Jager explained that there would be a “bedding-in” process, but locals can eventually expect punishment if they don’t play ball on this one:

“It’s going to be a project that we phase in, but over the next six months, we will be looking to give out penalties to residents who aren’t compliant. We don’t know what those penalties will be yet, though.”

Johannesburg recycling: Why is it happening so soon?

The Mayco member told us that, quite frankly, the city is generating far too much waste and they’re running out of space to put it.

As well as wanting to save the planet, it seems the city council are also keen to address the financial burden that comes with careless trash disposal.

Lungile Dhlamini is the Managing Director of Pikitup. He estimates that illegal dumping costs Joburg R60 million a year. The city is now aiming to save taxpayer’s money as well as the planet, as it clamps down on fly-tipping sites.

Will residents receive help to recycle?

Although they can’t do everything, it does seem like the City of Johannesburg will take a few steps to make citizens’ lives a little easier. De Jager said that households would be provided with colour-coded bags to help them separate their materials, as well as offering detailed educational programmes.

“We will be distributing bags to each household, which will have an individual colour and material name on it to help distinguish what goes where. For example, bags for plastics only could be green, and will have the word ‘plastic’ printed on it.”

“There will be education campaigns for our stakeholders so they can learn more about recycling. It’ll help people understand waste and the proper way to separate it.”